There are many different plants you can use, including:

Box Globes: Box (Buxus sempervirens Suffruticosa) Globes, being evergreen, give the garden year-round detail. Plant them in a border or better still grow them in classy terracotta 'long tom' flowerpots and stand them in position. This way you can move them around the garden if necessary. Clipped globes of box 45cm (18in) in diameter should be spaced six feet apart, add a formal note to the edge of a riotous, cottage flower border. They also look good where a path runs along the edge of a lawn.

When a row of box globes are planted very close together the 'topiary' effect disappears and they look like a low hedge that didn't quite turn out right. Besides looking overfussy, they are difficult to trim. A row of clipped dwarf box edging might be worth considering instead.

Forsythia: Forsythia makes a solid, late spring-flowering hedge that grows just tall enough to stop you seeing over the top, so it's good for dividing the garden into smaller 'rooms' and looks splendid when in flower.

A row of forsythia bushes adds a slight air of mystery to a path, as you need to look round them to see the garden beyond. When space is short you have room to grow flowers in-between them. Trim them into conical shapes after flowering each year to keep them looking tidy.

Planted roughly 60-90cm (2-3ft) apart, forsythia makes a superb formal, clipped, flowering hedge that suits a cottage garden perfectly. It will look less strident if you cut an occasional arch or peephole so you can see through into the next garden 'room'.

Lavender: Lavender create a fragrant, evergreen, dwarf hedge, which can be upright and clipped or allowed to spill gently over the path for a more romantic effect, depending on the variety you choose.

Repeating the same plant regularly at intervals along a narrow path side border creates a 'link' that pulls a typical random mixture of cottage garden plants together, adding a sense of order to apparent chaos.

A continuous row of lavenders planted 30cm (1ft) apart makes a classic, scented cottage garden, path edging, and attracts bees in droves. Trim the plants lightly each year in late summer as soon as the flowers have faded, to stop plants from becoming woody.